It seems Facebook’s hard times were the perfect basis to start purging fake accounts and likes.

The exact numbers are anyone’s guess at the moment, but apparently, many pages lost many a fan in a single day.

Facebook metrics service PageData sayas Zynga’s Texas HoldEm lost 96,000 likes on Wednesday. Farmville did slightly better with 45,000 likes down the drain.

As for the music related pages, and I literally mean music-related, Lady Gaga lost 31,700 likes whereas Justin Bieber lost almost 18,000. Rihanna lost 22,000, but another duet with Eminem should fix that in a jiffy.

The whole fake-hunt is a result of Facebook’s attempt to ensure transparency. The company said that the impact should still be minimal, which so far rings true, especially since these figures are petty compared to the actual fan bases.

A A 36-year-old Texan named Benito Apolinar physically attacked his wife after she did not like his latest status update.

The post in question was related to the anniversary of the death of Apolinar’s mother. Allegedly, he told his wife that she should be the first one to like his status and proceeded to pull her hair and punch her in the face. He is said to have been drunk at the time.

While a bit extreme, it just goes to show how Facebook went from social networking to a social nag network, since too many people simply seem to care a bit too much about all those likes. Even more so, many are ready to stir trouble you for the likes you haven’t liked, and don’t even get us started about sympathy hunters, generosity show-offs and attention whores.

AI boffins are interested that a computer outfit has come up with an algorithm which could mean the end of writers.

Code, penned by Narrative Science, can turn sports data and knock it into passable sports report. AP gives the following example: "Wisconsin appears to be in the driver's seat en route to a win, as it leads 51-10 after the third quarter. Wisconsin added to its lead when Russell Wilson found Jacob Pedersen for an eight-yard touchdown to make the score 44-3 ... ."

Narrative Science, a start-up in Evanston, Illinois, claims that it offers proof of the progress of artificial intelligence the ability of computers to mimic human reasoning. It thinks that means that journalists no longer need to waste time processing datae data, like that from sports statistics, company financial reports and housing starts and sales, as the computer can turns them into articles. Artificial intelligence and language are impressed but only a little bit.

Obviously there is some downside to the whole approach. Basically sports journalism is usually written by former athletes who use English as a second language with grunting being their first. Finance journalism is difficult because it requires you to understand the numbers, which real journalists find difficult, however the writing does not require much effort. In short it can't do what a real hack does, although all of us have had to write that sort of rubbish as part of our training.

Narrative Science claims the technology would be primarily a low-cost tool for publications to expand and enrich coverage when editorial budgets are under pressure. These include automated summary articles for more extensive coverage of local youth sports and to generate articles about the quarterly financial results of local public companies.

Thousands of Facebook users are falling for software which claims to stick a “dislike” button in the social notworking site but instead shoves in malware.

Computer security firm Sophos pointed out that there was no "Dislike" version of the "Like" icon and anyone installing an application pitched as a "Dislike" button that jokingly notifies contacts at the social networking service "now I can dislike all of your dumb posts" is malware.

Once granted permission to access a Facebook user's profile, the application pumps out spam from the account and spreads itself by inviting the person's friends to get the button, according to Sophos.

Facebook appears to be a jolly good target for hackers at the moment. Perhaps it is because it is mostly full of people who don't really care that much about sticking their private data online (Don't you have a Facebook page? sub.ed.)

Sticks malware in your machine

Thousands of Facebook users are falling for software which claims to stick a “dislike” button in the social notworking site but instead shoves in malware.Computer security firm Sophos pointed out that there was no "Dislike" version of the "Like" icon and anyone installing an application pitched as a "Dislike" button that jokingly notifies contacts at the social networking service "now I can dislike all of your dumb posts" is malware.Once granted permission to access a Facebook user's profile, the application pumps out spam from the account and spreads itself by inviting the person's friends to get the button, according to Sophos.Facebook appears to be a jolly good target for hackers at the moment. Perhaps it is because it is mostly full of people who don't really care that much about sticking their private data online [don't you have a Facebook page? ed]